Reinstall Windows-Starting fresh

[willchr2004]

I have a laptop which is about 3-4 years old and I want to just reinstall everything and start over. The hard drive is getting filled with windowns crap I dont want and cant get rid of. The problem is, I heard u need a recovery disk to do this....but I kinda lost it. What can I do? Can i buy another disk? If it helps, which it probably wont, my laptop is a sony S5XP running on Windows XP

Thanks!
Chris

[ChuckFickens]

You will need an XP disk of some sort, if you look on the bottom of the laptop you should have a sticker with the windows license key on it, check what version of XP it is (home or professional) and see if you can borrow a matching windows CD from somebody and then just use the key on that sticker when it asks for it..... perfectly legal.

[VHG]

Some computers come with a hidden partition on the hard disk that you can use to reinstall Windows. See your laptop documentation to see if that is the case in your laptop.

If not Sony should be able to supply you with a recovery CD, after all you paid for Windows when you bought it so Sony should supply you with a disk to help reinstall Windows.

Look on their web site, or phone their support people. After all if your hard disk crashed and you needed a new hard disk then Sony would have to provide you with the means to get Windows on it.

The good thing about using a Sony recover disk is that it should take the laptop back to the state it was in when it left the factory.

This is far better than having to install from scratch with a windows CD. The problem is that AFTER you have instaled Windows you would need to install loads of drivers for sound, graphics etc to make them all work.

This can be a right pain if you have never done it before and it can easily take you a day or more to get the laptop in any sort of working order.

FAR better to use a recorvery CD if you can.

[VHG]

Be aware that if you do use a recovery disk or reinstall windows you will lose EVERYTHING on the hard disk.

So make sure you backup all your personal files and that you make a note of all your settings for emails and so on.

Remember to save all your browser favorites.

Also make sure you have a copy of all the programs you wish to reinstall, plus any license numbers and so on.

Make sure you have saved EVERYTHING you want on the hard disk, because once you do a Windows reinstall you will have no chance of recovering them.

[ChuckFickens]

FAR better to use a recovery CD if you can.

No it's far easier to use a recovery disk....

It's FAR better to install all the latest drivers rather then the, old, ones that are invariably on recovery disks

[VHG]

>It's FAR better to install all the latest drivers rather then >the, old, ones that are invariably on recovery disks

I usually try to base my answers on the perceived technical skills of the person asking the question.

While I know that you or I could easily install Windows and then download and install the drivers, I am not sure about this person.

I sensed this person may never have installed Windows before, so for them the process of doing a clean Windows install AND then finding and installing all the drivers, is not one that I would suggest.

FAR better for them to reinstall Windows from a recovery partition or a recovery CD as that will at least put the PC back to the way it was when it came out the factory, even if the drivers are a little old.

As an example, I am always amazed when you get a question about Windows from a person who is VERY VERY untechnical, and the geeks come on and say "why dont you install Linux", and I am staggered at the stupidity of an answer lke that.

[ACtheTROLL]

will
looks like you are percieved to be a muppet!

seriously I could go either way ....
my training head says it will be good experience to have a go at installing from scratch (my muppets all realy enjoy the first sessions where they get a go)
your first stop has to be
http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/login/login.asp ?site=voe_en_GB_cons

download ALL the drivers
install XP then
start installing drivers
chipset, video, sound, lan, wan, any others

>>>but I kinda lost it
(mmmm now I'm thinking muppet)
your option here is to try and blag another disc from sony .... which isn't going to be an enjoyable experience